LF_081017

LakeForestLeader.com NEWS
the lake forest leader | August 10, 2017 | 13
Lake Forest resident and Loyola Academy graduate Andrew Kubicek (front row,
second from left) poses with current Ramblers outside a coffee shop in Nicaragua.
PHOTO SUBMITTED
LF resident empowers underserved
Nicaraguan children
Submitted by Loyola
Academy
Service is at the core
of a Jesuit education. It’s
also at the core of Loyola
Academy graduate and
Lake Forest resident Andrew
Kubicek.
Now a junior at Boston
College studying finance,
entrepreneurship
and sociology, Kubicek
discovered his passion for
serving others on a Loyola
summer service trip to Nicaragua
in 2014. He has
returned every year since,
coordinating a trip after
graduating from Loyola in
2015, serving as a graduate
student leader in 2016
and now, in 2017, interning
with Fabretto, a nonprofit
organization run by
fellow alumnus Kevin C.
Marinacci that is committed
to empowering underserved
Nicaraguan children
and their families.
Kubicek spent his summer
with Fabretto working
on the Sistema de
Aprendizaje Tutorial program,
an alternative, rural,
secondary education
program with a learningby-doing
approach for
youth in rural communities.
Specifically, he partnered
with family-run coffee
producers to support
their business operations
and a co-op of 35 Nicaraguan
women who weave
baskets and jewelry out
of recycled items, pine
needles and string.
“I would work from 8
a.m. until 5 p.m. on the
coffee initiative doing
market research, client
outreach, calculating current
costs of production,
and exploring distribution
channels,” he said.
Kubicek also assessed
the supply chain by visiting
different coffee producers
and collaborating
with roasting and packaging
companies to solidify
a partnership and optimize
the price at which the coffee
beans would be sold.
Kubicek then spent
his evenings working
with women at a basket
Please see EMPOWER, 15